1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a method for managing data items and technical terms associated with a product design and its requirements and, more particularly, to a terms management process which builds a repository of data items with attributes, technical terms with definitions, and acronyms with meanings, and which ensures that all such items are reviewed and approved before being used.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Modern vehicles are very complex assemblies of mechanical and electronic systems, and the process of defining the specifications for a vehicle and its requirements can be equally complex. A vehicle's systems are defined as groups of features, with each feature specification having multiple requirements. An example feature is a remote keyless entry, and each requirement will specify one operational characteristic of the feature. Even in an example like this where the feature and requirements may at first seem simple, in fact the requirements may come from different sources and be documented in different formats, and this leads to complications in capturing them accurately. In addition, different people may attribute a different meaning to a particular technical term or data item, and this difference in definition can create confusion and uncertainty in the requirements definition process.
Various computer tools and methods have been developed over the years to aid in the process of defining product features and capturing requirements. While each individual tool or method may be useful for some aspect of the feature definition process, they have not proven to be effective in delivering the desired end result—which is a set of feature definitions which are usable by any product development team, which are based on clear, concise and accurate requirements, and which contain only data which has been reviewed, tested, and approved by an appropriate corporate owner.
A need exists for a set of methods, and supporting software tools, to capture feature definitions, construct valid requirements, define terms and data elements clearly, and manage all of these documents and data in a repository which is available to everyone who needs to contribute to or use them.